Why 280 days of wood drying instead of the standard 30-60 days?

280 days of chamber drying isn't marketing—it's a technological necessity. In the first stage, timber sawn into 'frize' strips and air-stacked in piles with spacers is conditioned in ventilated workshops. That way we reduce moisture by 25–30% from the initial value as gently as possible. The second stage takes place in a vacuum-convective chamber with thermo-humidity treatment developed by our in-house engineering team. It is essentially the same natural process, scaled to an industrial workflow. Frize strips on trolleys with spacers enter the drying chamber. Hot air is the drying medium. Wood temperature is raised to +55 °C, then vacuum is applied with internal pressure reduced to 0.8 atm. Together, these conditions bring sap to a boil for 10–15 minutes per cycle. The cycle runs 48 times per day and continues until the wood reaches 9±1% moisture.

How do you work with clients and confidentiality?

100% of projects under NDA—this isn't optional, it's standard. We don't publish addresses, client names, or floor plan details without written permission. Photography only with client consent, often prohibited entirely. Our team signs personal non-disclosure agreements. For clients from public spheres (politics, business, culture), we can operate through structured legal entities without revealing the ultimate beneficiary. Payment possible via escrow accounts with bank guarantees from top-10 institutions.

Is the 25-year warranty real or just marketing?

Real, but conditional. The warranty covers structural integrity when the temperature-humidity regime (18-24°C, 40-60% humidity) and operating conditions are met.

What's the point of a comprehensive solution: floor + walls + furniture from the same wood?

First, aesthetics: unified grain pattern, tone, and transition from floor to panels, panels to kitchen facades creates a sense of cohesive space, as if the interior is 'carved' from a single block. Second, technology: using one timber batch, we guarantee identical reaction to humidity and temperature—floor and panels 'breathe' synchronously, no deformations at joints. Third, logistics: one supplier, one installation cycle, unified warranty. For clients: one call, design project with all technical nodes, one contract, one responsibility.

Can you restore 19th-century parquet in cultural heritage sites?

Yes, it's one of our core competencies. We've worked in the Kremlin (Red Square), Vaganova Ballet Academy, dozens of estates and mansions. Process: complete documentation (photos, measurements, species analysis, identification of historical installation techniques), then dismantling damaged areas while preserving 80-90% of the original, restoring lost planks by matching timber species, grain, and grade. Finishing layer restoration with application of protective coating (lacquer or oil) to extend service life.

Kitchen and fitted furniture install: geometry before the front

A beautiful front will not save a crooked carcass. On a premium kitchen and fitted furniture, geometry reads first: worktop horizon, door line, gaps and how appliances sit.

The real question is whether to build the volume to a laser datum zero — or keep packing wedges after install.

Here is installation as engineering: datum, soft-close hardware, coplanar fronts, service cutouts before production, and a handover checklist.

Kitchen and fitted furniture install in our contour is not “deliver and set”. It is tying the piece into room architecture: windows, openings, floor, ceiling, wall axes.

Cardinal Hall installs in-house production to the site method sheet. A third-party carcass without a joint and tolerance audit does not enter that logic by default.

At the door there is one fork: either geometry is locked before the shop (including cutouts for water, electrics and ventilation), or the job becomes on-site fitting. The second path in premium work is usually costlier and looks worse.

Why a laser datum zero before the first carcass?

We set datum zero with a laser before the base run goes in: worktop horizon, module axes, alignment to window and door opening. Base units sit on adjustable feet — but feet do not replace the room’s common plane.

Floors are protected; site humidity is logged. If substrate or wall tolerances fall outside the card, install does not start: otherwise fronts drift after appliances go in and the worktop “floats” against the sill.

Datum links kitchen to floor and doors. When parquet and fronts share a single batch, a horizon error shows at once — as a step in tone and line.

Why service cutouts before production?

Water, electrics, ventilation and extraction set holes, niches and carcass reinforcement. Cutting “as found” on site risks edges, moisture protection and neighbouring module geometry.

At survey we capture riser axes, sockets, outlets and finished floor height. In the shop we lay in cutouts, embeds and service access — so install stays assembly, not joinery in living-room dust.

Moving a sink or hob 30 mm after fronts are finished is already another order. Better to lock the diagram before the batch runs than to “nudge it a little” at handover.

A shop cutout is cheaper and cleaner than a router in a finished interior.

Note

Trade service diagrams are needed before the shop starts — not “we’ll send them when you install”.

Node	When we lock it
Datum zero and axes	before carcasses go in
Water and electrics cutouts	before production
Soft-close hardware	in the order specification
Coplanar fronts	after carcass check
Handover checklist	on acceptance day

How does the carcass carry load and hardware?

We fix carcasses to load-bearing walls with concealed brackets and reinforcement at worktop, wall-unit and integrated-appliance zones. Side panels 18–19 mm are a working stiffness guide under solid wood and heavy fronts.

Hinges and runners are soft-close: closing feel should match across the whole front. Mixed hardware in one run is felt by hand and heard.

Junctions with floor, skirting and panels follow the project profile — no scrap fillers on site. Otherwise the gap wanders in a season and the shadow line becomes a crooked shadow.

What does “coplanar fronts” mean?

Fronts are hung after final carcass geometry check. Even gaps between doors; one front plane to a laser rail — no “steps” or twists.

Ceiling compensation and wall junctions are drawn in. Trying to straighten a crooked opening with fronts alone ends in gaps and skewed handles or machining.

On a handle-light kitchen a plane error is more obvious: the eye reads shadow and the wall joint. So a “fashionable” front needs the same discipline as classic framing — only stricter.

Can you install a kitchen yourself?

On a simple flat-panel carcass, basically yes: set level, fix, hang fronts per the guide. On a true base without complex appliances that is realistic.

In practice, without experience it is easy to stack axis error, drop a corner at the sink, over-clamp a worktop or hang fronts before the carcass has settled. Fitting oven, dishwasher and hood without cutouts on the card often spoils edges and geometry.

If the run is solid wood, fronts flush with the wall, appliances are dense or you are unsure about datum zero — better professional install. Laser and protocol first, pretty door second.

What is on the handover checklist?

Opening and soft-close on every front and drawer, even gaps, floor and wall junctions, appliance fit in openings, no carcass play, finish care schedule.

We hand over a protocol and service contacts for seasonal adjustment. Install price and timeline — after survey and trade readiness, in the contract; no blind “from $X per metre” rates.

The kitchens catalogue is the project entry. Floor logic tied to the kitchen is in the single-batch floor + kitchen piece.

In brief

Where does kitchen installation start?

With laser datum zero, humidity check and service readiness. Carcasses go in only when horizon and axes are locked on the site card.

Why not cut services on site?

You can in an emergency — but it risks edges, moisture and geometry. The normal path: capture diagrams at survey and cut in production.

What are coplanar fronts?

One front line without steps or twists, with even gaps. Achieved by carcass geometry and hanging after check — not by eye.

Do you install third-party kitchens?

Priority is Cardinal Hall products. Third-party install is possible after an audit of hardware, geometry and finish against our joint standards.

Can you install a kitchen yourself?

On a simple carcass — yes, with experience and a true base. On solid wood, a long handle-light front and dense appliances a mistake often costs more than a crew.

What is checked at handover?

Soft-close, gaps, junctions, appliance seating, carcass play and the care card. Seasonal hinge adjustment sits in the service contour.

Need a site diagnosis — describe the floor or joinery.

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